These numbers all have to be double-checked.
And they will never have the euclidian perfection that Bill James demands.
Box scores didn't always carry complete stats; strikeouts, walks or hits
were sometimes missing. And of course they almost never gave earned
runs, hence I use Total Runs Per
Game.

But except for strikeouts, Paige doesn't stand
out above the others.

In addition, Brown, Byrd, and Day were
above-average hitters, who often pinch-hit. Brown especially had power. Joe
Williams once led the league in wins (9-2) plus batting while playing first
base and pitching. Rogan batted .344 lifetime; in
1922 he led all pitchers with 20-11, batted .439, and averaged 48 home runs
per 550 at bats. And he wouldn't reach the letters on Babe Ruths uniform
if he stood on tip-toes.

A word about
Day. I like
Leon
(67-36 .650). He might have won about 112 without World War II. But the reason
he was elected to Cooperstown ahead of Brown, Williams, Rogan, and Foster,
was because he was Monte Irvins teammate at
Newark. Monte
might argue that he wanted to get living players in first, but Foster and
Byrd were still alive at the time. So was Willie Wells,

I hope there will be another round
ofHall
of Fame voting so Byrd,
Bell, Beckwith,
and Bolden (plus Lundy) can get in. Leroy Matlock (82-35-.701) should join
them. He won 30-plus straight victories over three
seasons.

Anyway, if Rogan or Brown had said, Never
look back, someonemay be gaining on you, perhaps he, not Satch, would be
regarded as the greatest black pitcher of all time.